piano arrangement

Hi...i'm newbie here..i wanna ask something...my background is in classic piano...years after years i learnt to play piano by using music sheet..after i quit from classic piano...it seems my skill is bases only music sheet...if someone tell me to play without music sheet...i can't play..to play piano without music sheet is imposible for me...i wonder is there any technique to learn play piano without music sheet...i mean by make own piano arrengement...like if i see people play piano in cafe or in band..they never use any kind of music sheet...i envy them..Help me...

Some of the players already know the pieces in their heads. Some are playing with chords. (C, Am, D7, Gmaj, blahblah) As a composer, you will "have" to know about chords anyways, so here are some links: http://www.compassrosemusic.com/lesson5.html

http://www.google.com/search?q=tutorial+chords

Here's a "dictionary" of a lot of chords: http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/

i already know about chord...but i can't make a good arrangement..my righthand always plays melodie n left plays bass / chord

When playing solo, I always play the first and the octave of the chord in the left hand, and the chord/melody in the right hand. With vocals the same, except I don't play the melody. With a jazz band, I don't even use the left hand at all (except for eating pizza while playing ;-))

nah....that's it....i never play with a band or a singer..always play as a solois..so it become a habit to play melody in right hand and chord in my left hand....i wanna play in a band or acompany by a singer..so if u play in a jazz band u only play with ur right hand??

now i read a jazz piano book...cos i think a jazz pianist is a perfect example of a good piano arrangement..they have a good feeling when improvise a song...and they usually don't use any kind of sheet...

It's important to know what you're going for with a certain arrangement.

A good jazz pianist (accompanying a singer or instrumentalist) should have an excellent chord vocabulary, but also a proper feel for voice leading, (spacing in) chord voicings and what harmonic tensions to apply. Vertically, his job is very interesting/difficult. But horizontally, his job isn't that exciting. Playing chords in a semi-fixed rhythm, sometimes applying fills in the melody, is a rather limited task.

There are dozens of great jazz piano players. Popular names are Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Art Tatum.

If you're interested in classical playing, you should rather be studying song arrangements by Schubert and other Classical or Romantical composers. I specifically named Schubert because he composed in a very natural style, which comes in quite handy for song arrangements.

Music theory is important too. You should be able to harmonize a certain melody 'on sight'. There are some good books on harmony that you should study.